Ready for a fluffy piece? Here we go, boys. The power of meditation lives beyond the benefits it holds. It is not just about a desire to be a different, new, or better human being. Nor it is a form of escapism but rather the opposite. It is not just about shutting down the noise and chaos inside of your head.
Meditation is not a lifestyle. And it is certainly not a trend. Nor it should be a tool you can pull out of your pocket at your will.
Meditation isn’t perfect, but rather a practice.
What meditation should be is a process, a skill, and a journey. A process we can offer to ourselves whereby we can learn to silence the mind and find ourselves. A skill to drive your energy and focus towards a positive mindset, therefore learning to wisely observe and be in control of your thoughts and emotions. And a journey towards being fully present and emerged in the power of the now.
Silencing The Mind
One, but not the only, of the most important aspects of meditation, is being able to get a hold of your thoughts. This is possibly a next-to-impossible task for the ordinary person living in modern times. The noise and chaos that exist around us and within us are overwhelming, to say the least. The distractions are omnipresent.
It is in our nature to make significant efforts to label and make sense of the life unfolding in front of us to rationalize the nature of things. This blinds us into sensing our minds and body to be the same and furthermore distances us from sensing the experiencing itself.
But what do we mean by that? What exactly do we mean by “..distances us from sensing the “experiencing” itself”? What we mean is this:
Our minds are so keenly aware of our emotions and thoughts that we bypass the actual experience of the moment and tend to only focus on the experiencer, which is you.
“Your mind is like this water, my friend when it is agitated it becomes difficult to see but if you allow it to settle the answer becomes clear”. Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda
You see, the mind is too aware of itself for its own good. It is also on default mode most of the time. The brain processes are mostly automated. One of the hardest tasks we have as human beings is letting go. And surrendering one of the most powerful tasks we can accomplish as human beings. This entails letting go of yourself, and we don’t mean the kind where you stop taking showers. When you let go of your desire to understand it all, make sense of it all, rationalize it all, or rather when you surrender, you become whole.
Driving Your Energy And Focus
Modern times are overwhelming. The number of distractions forces us to drive our energy and focus toward them. Distractions and everyday tasks dictate how you spend your time, energy, attention, and focus. This is what derails most men. They are in control of you, you are not behind the wheel of your life.
You simply react to modern life. Life happens to you but not from you.
And let’s be honest here, that is not a life worth living. Nor a life anybody deserves, dreams of, or is meant for.
Not taking the time to connect with yourself by realigning your energy and focus inwards, you are effectively letting life happen to you. Meditation not only helps build mechanisms to recharge and refocus but it allows you to reroute emotions. The goal is to be able to drive your energy and focus inwards towards positive and meaningful parts of your life. You want to build upon a strong foundation and that is inwards. Meditation cement that foundation much needed to allow life to happen from you.
Stress is a Silent Killer
If you are not familiar with Dr. Bruce Lipton, then I suggest you start now. He has amazing points of view about various different topics. Recently we came across one video on YouTube through a channel called Be Inspired. Now if you are not familiar with this YouTube channel, you can check it out here. Now to the point, stress has been long linked with almost every illness both mental and physical.
The reason why stress is a killer is quite complex. And would much rather leave it up to the experts on the matter as we are not experts or qualified to do so. Again, to learn a bit more in-depth on this topic simply click here to watch the video mentioned above. But the overall concept is how bodies react to stress signals. The cells in our bodies have a very distinctive reaction towards nutrients vs toxins.
They react in the same way any of us react to positive vs negative situations. Our body’s reaction towards stress is flight or fight. This leaves a majority of our blood in parts of our bodies that are needed for flight or fight. Therefore, leaving other organs that are needed for growth and repair without a proper source of nutrients.
The bottom line, stress leaves our bodies in a constant war with the environment and not allowing our bodies to grow and more importantly repair. Not to mention the implications stress signals it has in our minds, the amount of energy and effort it takes to process and deal with such signals. Stress is indeed a silent killer.
Why We Bring This Up?
It is quite simple: A stress-free life is a healthy life. Meditation effectively helps the mind and the body deal with and relieve everyday stress. It allows you to connect with yourself and distance yourself from negative signals. Meditation aligns your mindset and body in a positive environment. And that sounds fluffy, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t like a fluffy feeling?
Be Grounded. Be Whole.
One of the biggest outcomes of meditation is a deep sense of well-being.
After all, how we feel about our emotional and physical state dictates so many other aspects of our lives. It is not just a placebo effect, but a real effect. Backed up by science and religion both. Practiced by all different types of people, a stay-home mom, an athlete, an actor, a celebrity, etc.
There is a reason why there is a buzz around the power of meditation. It helps anyone looking to be grounded and whole walk through life with gracefulness and assertiveness. Again, it promotes a sense of well-being, and that within itself is a powerful emotion and feeling to embrace in life.
The ability to pay close attention to your thoughts and emotions without judgment. Understanding and being in control of the chaos in your mind allows you to be grounded.
The Power of Meditation
Now we must say this again: Meditation is not perfect, it is a practice. And this time, let’s add: Meditation is actually quite difficult. It’s hard on both the body and the mind at first. It bends your usual conformities in the sense that “forcing” the body to sit still and the mind to be silent does not come naturally at first.
In our opinion, meditation can come in many forms. It can be practiced in many ways. To some of us, meditation comes in the form of surfing, dancing, singing, painting, etc. Do the research, you’d be surprised by the many ways to introduce yourself to the power of meditation.
If you are keen on learning about the power of meditation we suggest heading to an amazing company called Headspace. They are simply amazing and can be found here or under our Resources section on top of this page.
Another great organization you might want to check out is Mindful.org. They can be found here.
Check out our previous Health & Fitness article here.
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